Physics club hosted a 2 days trip to Lulin Observatory, an astronomical observatory operated by National Central University in Taiwan. Before going, I did a little research on their current research. They focused on studying Near-Earth Objects, asteroids, and comets using transit method. I’m surprised that they are also part of the Pan-STARRS project. Lulin Observatory said that they are currently building a 2m telescope. So I was particularly excited about seeing that. I was also looking forward to stargazing in the mountains. To be honest I’ve never done a proper stargazing before because there are too much light pollution in the cities.
Lulin Observatory is located at Mt. Front LuLin, a 2862-m peak in the Yu-Shan National Park. We went through a 4 hour road trip and a 2 hour hike to arrive there. The hiking was quite challenging because the mountains were steep and we had to carry our bags under cold weather. (It was during one of the coldest days in Taiwan. We even saw frost on the road.)
The scenery is magnificent. And then after climbing 2862 meters, we arrived at the observatory!
A graduate assistant brought us to see their 1m telescope. Though I was dismayed to hear that the 2m telescope isn’t built in Taiwan, it was still one of the coolest experience to see Taiwan’s current largest telescope. The reflective telescope is mounted on the top of the building, with a whole room for itself. The roof can be opened and rotate with the telescope when needed, so the telescope can see different patches of the night sky.
I had the opportunity to control the roof. Then, the assistant led us to the control room to see what it’s like to work at the observatory.
They have a program that tells them where each stars or selected object will be located at and the telescope is programed to move with the selected object. That evening, there were quite a lot of mist, so we had to wait until the sky is clear in order to stargaze. Finally, the sky cleared during midnight, we put on our winter jackets and lied on the ground in -1°c.
Reflection
The 2-hour hiking falls in learning outcome 2 and 5. Hiking requires commitment. Once you set foot on the mountain, there’s no reason for you to back down but to keep climbing. And that’s where “working collaboratively” is beneficial. For a person like me who knows nothing about hiking, it really gives me confidence when people around me are all very supportive of one another. Through this experience, I learned how to regulate my breathing in cold weather and at higher altitudes. I’ve also trained my stamina to withstand long term exercise. Moreover, I learned how big telescopes are operated and how astronomers collect data. This trip gave me insight on what an astronomer’s career may look like.